Written by Deborah Lobo,Four Green Steps

Here are my  five favourite  films that present green messages. From the consequences of oil dependency to the costs of inaction, these films are sure to teach us a lesson or two in searching for green alternatives in all aspects of our lives.

-Who Killed the Electric Car? (2006) documentary

This film discusses General Motors’ 1996 creation of a fully electric car…as well as its destruction. It was gasoline independent and produced no emissions during its use. The film attempts to find the culprit of its destruction:

Were US consumers unwilling to make a change from gasoline based vehicles?

Were the batteries unable to provide a practical range?

Were oil companies afraid of competition?

Did the car company sabotage their own product?

Did the US government give preference to vehicles with poor fuel efficiency?

Was the California Air Resources Board under pressure to scrap their zero emission vehicle mandate?

Are hydrogen fuel cells a real alternative to gasoline, or simply just a distraction from electrically powered vehicles?

The history of the electric car, dependence on oil as well as an investigation of the above questions are discussed in the film. The consequences of giving into pressure and sticking to conventional norms are lessons taught in this motion picture.

-Happy Feet (2006) animated

Speaking of conventional, one penguin who is quite the contrary of this term is Mumble. Using his feet to dance, he communicates to human kind the environmental problems facing his penguin community in Antarctica. Overfishing by humans was creating difficulties for the penguins to find food. With time, Mumble convinces his community to dance with him to convince humans to a more sustainable future. Their dancing convinced the human population to introduce legislation to reduce fishing consumption. This film teaches that innovation and sometimes unorthodox maneuvers are necessary in order for change to occur.

-An Inconvenient Truth (2006) documentary

Al Gore’s documentary explains the phenomenon of global warming as well as the consequences of inaction. In addition, Al Gore has continued to discuss these issues in other documentaries including the talk entitled “Al Gore’s new thinking on the climate crisis” in which he emphasizes the importance of new legislation rather than just wishful thinking in order to fight climate change.

-Wall-E (2008) animated

Fast forwarding to the future, the film presents the human population living in space as a result of their unsustainable living practices on Earth. Since being deported to space, the humans have become lazy, sitting all day and completely dependent on technology to perform even simple tasks meanwhile on Earth, the robot Wall-E is left to clean up the mess left by the humans. Another robot named Eve is sent from space by the humans to Earth to find out if there exist any signs of life. After finding a living plant, the robots face many challenges to convince the humans to come back to Earth and help rebuild their home. Learning from past mistakes as well as the privilege of second chances are themes brought out in this film.

-The End of Suburbia Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004) documentary

This documentary discusses the development of suburbs after the Second World War and its promise to provide a life with more space and comfort. Much of these promises were made by the invention and mainstream use of the automobile which used cheap oil. However, the film goes on to explain how this dependence on oil created an unsustainable future for Americans. The film maker went on to produce a sequel called “Escape from Suburbia: Beyond the American Dream” in 2007 in which the audience sees the challenges that three people face to find solutions to the oil dependency problem.

Image courtesy of Creative Commons

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